Tree square challenge
Posted on by Debbie

From little things, big things grow #TreeSquare

Welcome to Day #12 of Tree Squares

Timber business

It might surprise you to know that I live in a timber town.

Tumbarumba is surrounded by timber, both pine plantation forests and natural bush. Which is why when the Black Summer bushfires threatened our town, it was a very serious situation.

We have one of the largest timber mills in the Southern Hemisphere, which is a major employer in town and we are well known for our timber production, along with vineyards, agriculture, sheep and cattle.

Every day hundreds of fully loaded log trucks go through our main street with harvested trees on board for various mills around our area. Yet we are a very small town with a population of about 1500/2000 including all the outlying areas.

When we got the move to Tumbarumba for the Mathematician to take up a Head Teacher position at the local high school, we rang my aunt who lived in a bigger town nearby to ask what it was like, we had said yes to the move, sight unseen! My aunt paused for a long time before finally saying ‘well there are a lot of trees up there’. It was a case of what she didn’t say – but in the 30 years of living here, things have changed, and mainly for the better. It still has a lot of trees though!

While out riding the rail trail last week, this tree stood out to me. The composition of the tree, the stacks of timber and the processing plant in the background told the story of the timber from start to finish!

Hyne Timber Mill tree
Hyne Timber Mill tree

I then decided to use a filter to make it into a painting, it’s sometimes fun to play around.

Tree at Hyne Mill - painting filter
Tree at Hyne Mill – painting filter

The title of my post refers to a well known protest song by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, which tells the story of the Gurindji Strike also known as the Wave Hill walk off. If you haven’t heard it before, it’s well worth a listen.

It describes how the Gurindjis’ claim to their traditional lands back from the cattle station on which they worked (owned by UK company Vesteys and called Wave Hill Station) sparked the Indigenous land rights movement. Source

The song really has nothing to do with the tree prompt, except it’s the first thing I thought of when I took this photo.

What I think I’m trying to say, is that from a small seedling a tree grows into something big and then produces an industry which supports other industries and livelihoods. From little things, big things grow.

Anyway just a few random thoughts for the day!

Becky’s Squares

Becky’s square theme for July is Trees – here’s a link to her post today – it’s a monthly challenge where Becky posts a square photo every day and invites us all to join in, either daily or spasmodically as the whim takes us! I’m posting spasmodically. There’s no pressure to join in every day 🙂

Deb 🙂

All my #TreeSquare posts can be found here

PS: A brief apology (#sorrynotsorry) to some readers who may get tired of my extra posts and my photos of trees – I’m enjoying myself and I hope you are entertained too.

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Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

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15 Replies to “From little things, big things grow #TreeSquare”

  1. I have just finished reading a book by a librarian detailing first person accounts and quotes from the Black Saturday fires in Tumbarumba and surrounds. I was horrified to read that a late colonial investigation highlighted the dangers to the town from fires in the forest 100 years ago. What a quandary for the town and its people. Their industry and economy versus nature and potential for destructove firestorms. How do you manage that concern and risk, Deb. I imagine it is a worry.

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    1. I love being among the trees and hills Donna, I couldn’t live anywhere else now. Tumbarumba is the coolest name, especially when it’s called Tumba-bloody-Rumba in a pure Australian accent 🙂

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  3. I adore this song and, as an aside, I think I read somewhere once (which means it’s saved i the useless book of knowledge that’s in my head) that Tumbarumba in language means place of large trees.

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